Method for forming a pouch

ABSTRACT

A method of forming and filling a pouch, comprises forming opposing walls of a film; sealing the opposing walls of film together to form at least one pouch; filling an interior section of the at least one pouch through an opening in an upper portion of the at least one pouch with a flowable material; forming a top sealed expressing-shaped region to close the opening in the at least one pouch; and cradling the pouch with a foldable flat that is more rigid than the pouch that can be folded or rolled to compress the pouch to express the flowable material through the expressing shaped region.

This application is a continuation-in-part of U.S. application Ser. No.11/613,661, filed Dec. 20, 2006, which is incorporated herein byreference in its entirety and this application is a continuation-in-partof U.S. application Ser. No. 12/200,376, filed Aug. 28, 2008 whichclaims benefit of provisional application 60/969,232 filed Aug. 31,2007, which are incorporated herein by reference in their entirety andthis application is a continuation-in-part of U.S. application Ser. No.12/236,555, filed Sep. 24, 2008.

BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION

The invention relates to a method of forming a pouch for dispensingviscous material.

Viscous materials can include sealant, mastic, adhesive, glazing, caulk,grout and glue compositions. Typically, such viscous materials arepackaged, stored or commercialized in cardboard containers or plasticdispensers or cartridges that are adapted to be loaded into an extrusiondevice such as a caulking gun. These viscous materials include siliconesealants and caulks that are used in building and constructionapplications. Some of these compositions are referred to as roomtemperature vulcanizable (RTV) compositions. They may include amoisture-curable polyorganosiloxane polymer, filler, and a condensationcure catalyst. When used as sealants, these compositions can be packagedin a moisture impervious tube and applied to a substrate by extrusionfrom the packaging tube.

There are difficulties associated with these containers. For example,some materials are merchandised in cartridges for loading into a caulkdispenser or gun. The dispenser or gun is another item that must bepurchased, stored, cleaned and maintained as part of the caulkingprocess. The dispenser or gun may be cumbersome and difficult tooperate, especially in constrained spaces in buildings underconstruction. Also, the dispensing device may require significant handstrength, which adds challenge to dispensing and laying a clean sealantbead.

In one process, a quantity of sealant is expressed from a dispensingtube or cartridge directly to a crevice to seal the area when dried.Typically, the dispensing tube or cartridge will contain more materialthan an amount required for a particular sealing job. Usually someunused portion of the tube remains after a required amount has beendispensed. The dispensing tube with the unused portion is discarded oris saved for futures use. Discarding is uneconomical and may be highlyundesirable for environmental reasons. At present, there is no knownrecycling available for the wide variety of sealant compositionsavailable on the market.

If the container with residual sealant is not discarded, it will need tobe capped to save the material without setting for future use. But, thesealant may include a volatile component that will evaporation to hardenresidual material. Other sealants may be settable from exposure toatmosphere oxygen. And unless the container is correctly reclosed, theresidual material will be lost.

Some dispensing containers are merchandised with a nozzle-engaging,snap-fit bead and groove or screw thread to provide a secure fit to thecontainer body. But these caps are fragile pieces that are easily splitor otherwise damaged from over-tightening. Or, the snap-fit bead andgroove may not provide an enduring reclose fit until the time when thetube is next required for a caulk job. Some informal capping deviceshave included the placing of a nail into the tube opening, to effect aplug type reclosure. Or, the container cap may be merchandised with aplug member to provide this function. But frequently, these solutions donot prevent content hardening for more than a short period of time.

Other reclosing approaches have included wrapping the container tip withaluminum foil or plastic wrap, securing with a rubber band and enclosingthe entire container in a sealable plastic packet. But, oftentimes thesemechanisms do not work because the packets rupture or the packetscontain enough air to dry the tube contents. And, a foil or wrap can notbe closely and tightly wrapped around the tube and nozzle without airgap.

There is a need for a viscous material container such as a small pouchthat overcomes the problems of waste and difficulty of use of currentdispensers. And. there is a need for a method to form such a pouch.

BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE INVENTION

The invention provides a method to form a viscous material dispenserthat can be used to make a pouch that overcomes current problems ofwaste, cost and difficulty of use. In an embodiment, the method offorming and filling a pouch, comprises forming opposing walls of a film;sealing the opposing walls of film together to form at least one pouch;filling an interior section of the at least one pouch through an openingin an upper portion of the at least one pouch with a flowable material;forming a top sealed expressing-shaped region to close the opening inthe at least one pouch; and cradling the pouch with a foldable flat thatis more rigid than the pouch and that can be folded or rolled tocompress the pouch to express the flowable material through theexpressing shaped region.

BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWING

FIG. 1 is a front elevation view of a packet;

FIG. 2 is a rear elevation view;

FIG. 3 is a cut away view of the packet through 3-3 of FIG. 2;

FIGS. 4 and 5 are schematic perspective views of a packet, front andback;

FIG. 6 is a cut-away view through A-A of the FIG. 2 packet; and

FIGS. 7, 8, 9, 10, 11 and 12 are schematic perspective views of use ofthe packet.

DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE INVENTION

The term sealant as used herein includes an entire variety of caulksincluding silicones, latex and acrylic caulk; filler compounds; adhesiveor mastic-type materials, such as stucco, concrete andcementious-material patching and crack filling compounds; gasketingcompounds; gutter, flashing, skylight, or fish tank seam or sealantcompounds; butyl or rubber sealants, cements and caulk; roof cements;panel and construction adhesives; glazing compounds and caulks; gutterand lap sealants; silica gel-based firebrick, masonry and ceramic crackfillers and cements; silicone-based glues; ethylene glycol-containinglatex glazing compounds; and the like.

One preferred sealant is an organopolysiloxane room temperaturevulcanizable (RTV) composition. The room temperature vulcanizablesilicone elastomer composition can contain a silanol stopped basepolymer or elastomer, reinforcing and/or extending filler, cross-linkingsilane and cure catalyst. These RTV compositions are prepared by mixingdiorganopolysiloxanes having reactive end groups with organosiliconcompounds that possess at least three hydrolyzably reactive moieties permolecule. The known RTV compositions are widely used as elastic sealingmaterials for applications involving the gaps between various jointssuch as the gaps between the joints of building materials, the jointsbetween structural bodies and building materials in buildings, betweenthe bathtub and wall or floor, cracks on tiles in bathrooms, gaps in thebathroom such as those around the washbasin and those between thewashbasin supporting board and the wall, gaps around the kitchen sinkand the vicinity, between panels in automobiles, railroad vehicles,airplanes, ships, gaps between prefabricated panels in various electricappliances, machines, and the like. Room temperature vulcanizablesilicone sealants thus may be utilized in a wide variety of caulking andsealing applications.

Features of the invention will become apparent from the drawings andfollowing detailed discussion, which by way of example withoutlimitation describe preferred embodiments of the invention.

FIG. 1, FIG. 2 and FIG. 3 illustrate an embodiment of the invention.FIG. 1 is front elevation of a viscous material dispenser according tothe invention. The dispenser is in the form of a packet 110. FIG. 2 isan elevation of the packet 110 from a back side. The packet 110comprises two thin sidewalls of plastic or foil film, a top film 112 anda bottom film 114. The films 112, 114 can be heat-sealed or otherwiseconnected together along edge 116 to form a pouch 118 as shown in FIG. 3with a first closure end 120 and a second closure end 122 that form anexpressing shape tip 128. Or, the top film 112 and bottom film 114 canbe from a single film that is folded into the pouch 118 shape. The filmmaterial can be impermeable or only slightly permeable to water vaporand oxygen to ensure product vitality. Preferably the material has apermeability rating of 1 or lower. Suitable film materials include aplastic film, such as low-density polyethylene or other thermoplastic orfoil film material. The top film 112 of packet 110 includes a crease 126running logitudinally to the packet 110 from second closure end 122toward the first closure end 122. The crease 126 facilitateslongitudinal folding of the packet 110, as hereinafter described. Thecrease 126 can be a pressed, folded, wrinkled line or score.

FIG. 3 is a cut away side view of the packet 110 showing pouch 118containing a sealant 124. The top film 112 can be pleated (not shown) toallow for an increased volume of sealant 124. The packet 110 is creased126 in the middle to allow for folding as hereinafter described. Nozzletip 128 is formed from corresponding tapering ends of top film 112 andbottom film 114. The nozzle tip 128 can be a heat seal closure that canbe opened by tearing or cutting with scissors or a knife or simply frompressure of sealant 124 expanding into and then from the nozzle tip 128.Or in an embodiment, the nozzle tip 128 can be closed by serratedembossing to provide for easy tear opening.

A portion 130 of the dispenser toward the first closure end 1202 cancomprise a more rigid or thicker material to impart added structure andstrength. For example, the portion 130 can comprise a multiple laminatedfilm that is the same as film as the rest of the dispenser. Or, theportion 130 can comprise a different film that is more dense than thefilm of the rest of the dispenser.

FIG. 4, FIG. 5 and FIG. 6 illustrate an embodiment of the invention.FIGS. 4 and 5 are schematic perspective views of a packet 10, front andback and FIG. 6 is a cut-away view through A-A of the FIGS. 4 and 5packet. FIG. 4 is a front view of the packet 10. FIG. 5 is a perspectiveof the packet 10 from a back side. FIG. 3 is a cut away side view of thepacket 10. The size of packet 10 can vary, but in some embodiments canbe about 20 cm by 15 cm or smaller.

The packet 10 comprises a pouch 12 of plastic or foil film, a rigid flat14 comprising a more rigid or thicker material than the pouch 12 filmand a spout-forming area 16 on the rigid flat 14 side of the packet 10.The area 16 comprises a shaped material of intermediate thickness andrigidity between that of the material of the film 12 and the material ofthe pouch 14. In the embodiment shown in the figures, area 16 istrapezoidal-shaped with slanted sides from the rigid material sidewall14 toward the packet tip end 20 that forms a tapered nozzle when foldedor rolled with the rigid flat 14.

The pouch 12 can be heat-sealed or otherwise cradled to the flat 14 asshown in FIG. 6. A first closure end of pouch 12 forms an expressingshape tip 20. In FIGS. 4, 6 and 8, the more rigid flat 14 has crease 26that can be a fold or score running along the longitudinal axis of themore rigid flat 14 from tip 20 to a second closure end 22. The crease 26is marked into the flat 14 surface to facilitate longitudinal folding ofthe packet 10, as hereinafter described. The crease 26 can be a pressed,folded, wrinkled, embossed line or score. The crease 26 can rungenerally longitudinal to a long axis of the packet 10 from one end ofthe packet 10 toward the tip end 20.

The packet 10 further includes a semicircular-shaped tear tab 30 tofacilitate opening at the tip 20. The top film 12 can be pleated 28 toallow for an increased volume of a sealant 24.

The crease 26 promotes longitudinal folding of opposite rigid flatsections against the pouch 12 to compress the pouch 12 to expresssealant 24 from the pouch 12 interior. The more rigid flat 14 comprisesa rigid or conformable surface that is configured to form cradlingcompression surfaces against pouch 12 when folded by a force applied torigid flat 14 opposite sections as hereinafter described. The more rigidflat 14 can be a flat comprising any material that is more inflexible orrigid than the pouch 12 material. An area 16 on the rigid flat 14 sideof the packet 10 comprises a shaped strip of intermediate thickness andrigidity between the material of the pouch 12 and the material of theflat 14.

Materials suitable for pouch 12 include single layer, co-extruded orlaminated film or foil. Preferably the material has a permeabilityrating of 1 or lower. Suitable film materials include a plastic film,such as low-density polyethylene or other thermoplastic or foil filmmaterial such as polypropylene, polystyrene orpoly-ethylene-terephtalate. The foil is a thin, flexible leaf or sheetof metal such as aluminum foil for example. In one embodiment, the filmis a polyethylene and bioriented polypropylene coextruded film. Analuminum foil is a preferred pouch 12 film material. Suitable foil canbe derived from aluminium prepared in thin sheets with a thickness lessthan 0.2 mm/0.008 in, although much thinner gauges down to 0.006 mm canbe used. A suitable foil can comprise a laminate with other materialssuch as a plastic or paper.

The pouch 12 material can be impermeable or only slightly permeable towater vapor and oxygen to assure content viability. For example, thefilm can have a moisture vapor transport rate (MVTR, ASTM D3833) of lessthan 10 g/day/m². In an embodiment, the MVTR of the film is less than 5g/day/m² and preferably less than 1 g/day/m² and most preferably of lessthan 0.5 g/day/m². The pouch 12 film can be of various thicknesses. Thefilm thickness can be between 10 and 150 μm, preferably between 15 and120 μm, more preferably between 20 and 100 μm, even more preferablybetween 25 and 80 μm and most preferably between 30 and 40 μm.

The more rigid flat 14 comprises a substantially rigid substrate with afold-imparting crease 26 or a substantially conformal substrate that canbe rolled or folded against the pouch 12. The rolling or foldingcompresses the pouch 12 to cause sealant 24 to be expressed from pouch12 interior through a nozzle formed at the tip end 20. The material ofthe more rigid flat 14 is substantially inflexible and less compliantthan the material of top film 12. In this application, the term “rigid”means having the physical property of being stiff and resistant tobending. In an embodiment, the bottom material 14 is more rigid asmeasured in accordance with a Taber Stiffness method such as the ASTMD1044 Taber test.

The flat 14 can comprise any suitable rigid or semi-rigid material suchas cardboard, paperboard, corrugated board and any wood-based type ofpaper or rigid or semi-rigid plastic sheet material. Cardstock is asuitable more rigid material. Cardstock thickness is often described bypound weight. Pound weight is the weight of 500, 20″ by 26″ sheets. Inthe US, cardstock thickness is usually measured in points or mils thatgives the thickness of the sheet in thousanths of an inch. For example,a 10 pt. more rigid flat is 0.010 inches thick; 12 pt. is 0.012 inches.

The flat 14 can comprise a combination of paperboards, usually two flatpieces of paper and one inner fluted corrugated medium. Further suitablemore rigid flat materials include stiff paper, cardboard, pasteboard orpaperboard including corrugated paperboard and polyethylene such as0.0015 inch high density polyethylene. The more rigid flat 14 cancomprise a substantially rigid material such as a thermoplastic, forexample ABS (acrylonitrile-butadiene-styrene). One preferred flat 14material is a paperboard that is 10 mils or 0.010 inches in thickness orgreater.

Corrugated fiberboard is a preferred material for flat 14. Corrugatedfiberboard has two main components: a linerboard and a medium. Both canbe made of a heavy paper called containerboard. Linerboard is a flatfacing that adheres to the medium. The medium is typically an innerfluted corrugated material. The corrugated board can be one medium gluedto one flat sheet of linerboard, a medium between two sheets oflinerboard and even three sheets of linerboard with two mediums between.The fluted medium forms rigid arched columns that can resist bending andpressure from all directions. It has been found that a corrugated boardserves especially well as a flat to cradle a sealant-filled pouch to aidin expressing sealant as hereinafter described with reference to FIGS. 5through 9.

In embodiments, the pouch 12 comprises a multilayer polymer laminatealong with an aluminum layer having a thickness between about 0.0045 andabout 0.0065, preferably about 0.0055 inches. The area 16 comprises highdensity polyethylene (HDPE) having a thickness between about 0.012 and0.018 inches, preferably about 0.015 inches. The rigid material 14comprises corrugated fiberboard having a thickness between about 0.045and 0.060, preferably between 0.050 and 0.055 inches. The suitable pouch12, flat 14 and area 16 materials can be subject to the proviso that therigidity of the flat 14 material is greater than that of the pouch 12material and the rigidity of area 16 material is intermediate betweenthat of the pouch 12 and that of the flat 14 materials.

FIGS. 4, 5, 6, 7, 8 and 9 are schematic perspective views illustrating ause of the packet 10. In FIG. 7, the packet 10 is held in one hand whileopened with the other hand by tearing away tab 30 as illustrated. Inapplying a viscous material such as a caulk, the packet 10 can begrasped by hand with pouch 12 side up as shown in FIG. 8. Thumb 32 andsecond finger 34 are located on opposing edges 36, 38 of the more rigidflat 14. Index finger 40 is impressed against pouch 12 toward crease 26to commence folding of more rigid flat 14. With the force applied bythumb 32 and second finger 34 to opposing edges 36, 38, the packet 10begins to fold along crease 26. Folding can be facilitated by a userimposing the length of index finger 40 against the pouch 12 while theside force is applied by thumb 32 and second finger 34 as shown in FIG.8. In this example, more rigid flat 14 comprises a substantially rigidmaterial with planar face underlying the pouch 12 that cradles the pouch12 as more rigid flat 14 is folded along crease 26 as shown in FIG. 9.

As shown in FIGS. 9 and 10, the folding drives enclosed sealant 24 fromwithin pouch 12 up through tip-shaped first closure end 20 as shown inFIG. 9. Initially, the sealant 24 can be contained within the pouch 12of the packet 10 and the shaped area 16 will be flat and devoid ofsealant 24. But, as the packet 10 is folded and pressed as shown in FIG.9, the sealant is forced into area 16. The area 16 swells and forms anexpressing tip shape. The substantially rigid structure formed from theover-folding of two sides of the packet 10 can be firmly held and guidedto express a controlled sealant bead 44 from area 16 as shown in FIGS.10 and 11. The area 16 is shaped to allow sealant to fill the rest ofthe tip and flow from the tip. The area 16 can be shaped to anappropriate bead size, for example, ⅛^(th) inch in diameter. A user canfurther regulate bead size by applied pressure and speed as illustratedin FIGS. 10 and 11. Once the sealant 24 has been applied and the pouch12 voided of material, the empty packet 10 can be discarded asillustrated in FIG. 12

The following Examples are illustrative and should not be construed as alimitation on the scope of the claims.

Example 1

Packet samples are evaluated to establish a design for dispensing aviscous material.

The samples are constructed from clear polypropylene Ziploc® packets,thin (<1 mm) black polypropylene and polyethylene sheet and acrylic thinfilm (<1 mm). The sheet materials are formed and heat sealed into packetshapes by first cutting oversized top and bottom rectangular shapes withtriangular ends and heat sealing the pieces together with the triangularends at one side to form a nozzle. Some of the packets are formed withgussets. The gussets are formed by folding the film at the packet sidesand bottom.

Excess material is cut away from the packet after forming. Each packetis filled with material and then heat sealed to form an enclosure. Thepackets vary in length from about 4 cm to 20 cm, in width from about 2cm to 15 cm and in thickness (filled with material) from about 0.5 cm to2 cm. The packets are filled with acrylic caulk or silicone sealant.

A panel of evaluators is assembled to evaluate each packet from an arrayof 20 to 30. The packets are evaluated for content integrity and easeand control of material expression. In the evaluation, the panelvisually and tactilely inspects each packet before dispensing material.Then members of the panel fold each packet to express its contents. Thepanel notes ease of control of expression of the material bead onto atest cardboard. Also, the panel observes any failure in packetintegrity.

The packets are evaluated for dispersing both acrylic caulk and siliconesealant. The panel practices multiple dispensing for each configuredpacket. The panel then approves a selection of packets for next stepevaluation. The process is reiterated with successive packetsconstructed according to characteristics of successful packets from around of a previous evaluation.

The panel identifies packet designs that do not fully fill withmaterial, do not form a round orifice for expressing a uniform bead andare insufficiently flexible to fully fill. Some expressing faults areaddressed by changing nozzle angle and length in packets for subsequentevaluation rounds. Some first round designs are observed as too flimsyto allow for fine control needed to dispense a continuous smooth bead ofmaterial. This is addressed by (1) making one of the surfaces of thepacket out of a more rigid plastic sheet, and (2) modifying userinteraction to fold the packet along the crease length to provide aneven more rigid dispensing structure.

Some designs are noted as having too thin a film. With these packets,the material resists sliding inside the packet thus making it difficultto completely express packet contents. This problem is addressed with agusset designed packet to increase the volume of the packet whilemaintaining or decreasing the packet internal surface area.

A creased semi-rigid plastic backing for the packet is determined as abest design to hold a desired quantity of material and to ease foldingfor dispensing. The packet is sized overall (7 cm×5 cm×1.5 cm) to bemanipulated to completely express material with one hand. The selecteddispenser nozzle has a longer, 2 cm and narrower, 1 cm nozzle to allowthe packet to be squeezed without nozzle deformation. And. the selectedpacket design has gussets on the sides to increase volume whileminimizing internal surface area, so that material can be dispensed byone hand finger compression.

Example 2

A resulting design was functionally tested by others that represented aconsumer panel. Ten packets of the design were distributed among 6persons of the panel. Each person was instructed to express materialfrom a packet according to a procedure of manually pressing the packetwith one hand with an index finger along the crease to fold the packetlongitudinally to express the sealant from the packet nozzle.

A jury of designers observed the expressing procedures and noted thepanel's comments. The consumer panel responses were filmed to captureuse of the packet and comments

The panel approved the proposed design. The following panel comments onthe design were recorded: “This is really nice! I'm digging this.” “Ithink that's kind of amazing. I can only say good things about it.”“Super easy to use. I love the bead that it gave me. It feels like Ihave a lot of control.” “I like this already, and I'll tell you why.Because you can really manipulate the pressure. You can do a lot, or youcan do a little.” “You've addressed the issue of most people at home notneeding a huge quantity [of caulk].” “Once you get used to using these,as you can see already on my first run, you're pretty much aprofessional.”

This EXAMPLE illustrates a prospective commercial success for a viscousdispenser according to the invention.

Example 3

This EXAMPLE describes a series of iterative evaluations of packetsamples to determine a best more rigid material.

First, a range of materials including a paperboard, plastic sheet andcorrugated fiberboard were evaluated for output performance. Samplepaperboard thickness was varied from approximately 0.010″ to 0.100″; ahigh density polyethylene sheet (HDPE) was varied in thickness fromapproximately 0.005″ to 0.100″; and a corrugated fiberboard corrugationwas varied from B flute to N flute.

User ratings determined that a paperboard with a thickness less thanapproximately 0.080″ did not have sufficient stiffness for acceptabledispensing and “ease of use.” A thicker paperboard gave improvedperformance results but was rated unacceptable because of bulky feel.Thinner HDPE samples below 0.040″ in thickness, were rated unacceptablebecause of insufficient stiffness. Thicker HDPE samples showed improvedperformance but increased cost.

Performance for corrugated fiberboard was best in the E- and F-fluterange. The letter designation relates to flute size or refers to thenumber of flutes per lineal foot. An E-flute has 90+/−4 flutes perlineal foot and a flute thickness of 1/16 inch and an F-flute has128+/−4 flutes per lineal foot and a flute thickness of 1/32 inch. TheE-fluted and F-fluted corrugated fiberboard packets had a single handeduse dispensing percentage of approximately 80% and greater. The E-flutecorrugated fiberboards also received the best “ease of use” ratings.

Example 4

Another series of tests was conducted to determine a best performingpacket in terms of sealant bead shape. A standard bead was defined as adeposit of sealant with a circular cross section.

First tested packets had only a top film pouch and thicker bottommaterial sidewall. The thicker material sidewall was folded to form anozzle. However, the nozzles formed from the folded sidewall wereflexible and formed a non-uniform bead. A bead cross section wouldinitiate in a shape of a thin horizontal diamond. Then later in thedispensing, the bead cross section would be formed in the unacceptableshape of a thin vertical diamond. Furthermore, the top film tended toform sharper folds and creases at the nozzle, making the cross sectionless uniform.

In the tests of this EXAMPLE, a semi-rigid material was added to onesidewall adjacent to the packet tip end. In these EXAMPLES, when themore rigid material sidewall was folded along its longitudinal axis tosqueeze the pouch, the semi-rigid material bent in a controlled mannerto a substantially U-expressing shape. The U-expressing shape ensuredthat one half of the cross section was more uniform and round andconstrained edges of the flexible sidewall to provide a uniform andround expressed bead.

Example 5

HDPE was selected as a cost-acceptable material for a top film pouch.The HDPE was found to adhere to the rigid foldable sidewall material. Inexpressing tests, the HDPE materials cooperated with the U-expressingshape in forming a desirable cross section bead. Optimum HDPE wasdetermined through a series of experiments on 0.005″ to 0.030″ thickHDPE. A 0.015″ thickness was found to have the best performance of thatrange of materials in forming bead cross section.

While preferred embodiments of the invention have been described, thepresent invention is capable of variation and modification and thereforeshould not be limited to the precise details of the Examples. Theinvention includes changes and alterations that fall within the purviewof the following claims.

1. A method of forming and filling a pouch, comprising: forming opposingwalls of a film; sealing the opposing walls of film together to form atleast one pouch; filling an interior section of the at least one pouchthrough an opening in an upper portion of the at least one pouch with aflowable material; forming a top sealed expressing-shaped region toclose the opening in the at least one pouch; and cradling the pouch witha foldable flat that is more rigid than the pouch that can be folded orrolled to compress the pouch to express the flowable material throughthe expressing shaped region.
 2. The method of claim 1, wherein the morerigid flat comprises a crease that is a pressed, folded or scored linemarked into a surface of the flat to facilitate longitudinal folding ofthe packet.
 3. The method of claim 1, wherein the more rigid flatcomprises a crease that extends along the pouch between the two closureends to facilitate folding or rolling the more rigid flat and whereinthe crease is a divide between more rigid flat sections configured toform cradling compression surfaces against the enclosure.
 4. The methodof claim 1, wherein the pouch comprises a film material and the morerigid flat comprises a material that is more rigid than the filmmaterial.
 5. The method of claim 1, wherein the more rigid flatcomprises a substantially conformal substrate that can be rolled orfolded against the pouch.
 6. The method of claim 1, wherein the pouchcomprises a film material and the more rigid flat comprises asubstantially rigid and less compliant material than the material of thefilm pouch.
 7. The method of claim 1, wherein the more rigid flatcomprises a stiff paper, cardstock, fiberboard or thermoplasticmaterial.
 8. The method of claim 1, wherein the more rigid flatcomprises an 8 pt. cardstock
 9. The method of claim 1, wherein the pouchcomprises a multilayer polymer and aluminum layer laminate having athickness between about 0.0045 and about 0.0075.
 10. The method of claim1, wherein the pouch comprises a multilayer polymer and aluminum layerlaminate having a thickness of about 0.0060 inches.
 11. The method ofclaim 1, wherein the more rigid flat comprises a paperboard more thanten mills (0.010 inch) in thickness.
 12. The method of claim 1, whereinthe more rigid flat comprises corrugated fiberboard having a thicknessbetween about 0.045 and 0.065.
 13. The method of claim 1, wherein themore rigid flat comprises a fluted corrugated medium sandwiched betweenflat paper pieces.
 14. The method of claim 1, wherein the more rigidflat comprises corrugated fiberboard having a thickness between 0.50 and0.60 inches.
 15. The method of claim 1, wherein the pouch comprises afilm that is substantially impermeable to water vapor and oxygen. 16.The method of claim 1, wherein the pouch comprises permeability ratedfilm of 1 or lower.
 17. The method of claim 1, wherein the pouchcomprises a plastic or foil film material.
 18. The method of claim 1,comprising a semicircular-shaped tear tab to facilitate opening at thefirst closure end.
 19. The method of claim 1, comprising filling thepouch with a sealant.
 20. The method of claim 1, comprising filling thepouch with a sealant comprising an RTV composition.
 21. The method ofclaim 1, comprising filling the pouch with a sealant comprising apolysiloxane component comprising a mixture or reaction product of (i) apolysiloxane polymer having hydrolyzable substituent groups and (ii) apolyfunctional silicon compound having two or more hydrolyzablesubstituent groups.
 22. The method of claim 1, comprising filling thepouch with a sealant comprising a polysiloxane component comprising amixture or reaction product of (i) a polysiloxane polymer havinghydrolyzable substituent groups and (ii) a polyfunctional siliconcompound having two or more hydrolyzable substituent groups and includesa filler.
 23. The method of claim 1, comprising filling the pouch with asealant comprising a polysiloxane component comprising a mixture orreaction product of (i) a polysiloxane polymer having hydrolyzablesubstituent groups and (ii) a polyfunctional silicon compound having twoor more hydrolyzable substituent groups and includes a filler and acondensation cure catalyst.
 24. The method of claim 1, comprising anelongated pouch having a longitudinal axis and an interior, the pouchincluding a first closure forming a downstream end of the pouch and asecond closure forming an upstream end of the pouch, a dispensingextension to the upstream end closure in a tip form extending outwardlyand having a flow passageway in fluid communication with the pouchinterior.
 25. The method of claim 1, wherein the pouch comprises atransparent film material.